Table 1.

Some promising opportunities to effect large-scale transformative change in the near future

Opportunity	Geography/possible key actors	Context	Specific questions	What is at stake?	Scalability
Securing water for cities	Africa, Latin America; Water Funds Platforms (including city water companies, local governments, development banks)	Prioritize investments in watersheds for ensuring access to clean water and associated benefits, by identifying areas most important to conserve or restore and how changes will enhance or secure water-related ecosystem services	(i) To maintain/improve water purification and regulation, where in the watershed is most important to restore or protect? (ii) Which activities will promote the most cost-effective outcomes for desired benefits?	The 30 funds established or in development worldwide approach ∼$1 billion in spending; targeted investments can produce three to six times more efficient outcomes	The number of water funds in operation has more than doubled in the past 5 y, another doubling is expected in the next decade
National development plans	China; Chinese government	Inform zoning of ecosystem function conservation areas to ensure most vital natural capital assets are secured and livelihoods are improved; focus on securing local surface water and water from W. China for Beijing as well as Hainan Island pilot	(i) What areas should be zoned for conservation to most cost-effectively secure key natural capital assets and improve livelihoods? (ii) What magnitude of investment is needed? (iii) How might eco-compensation policies be designed?	Essential to national and economic security (environmental degradation equivalent to 9% of China's gross national income)	Scalable throughout China and as an example for other nations
National development plans	South Africa; South African government	Invest in conserving Strategic Water Source Areas in South Africa for urban and agricultural water security	How and where should large national investments from South Africa’s National Infrastructure Plan be directed?	Strategic Water Source areas are 8% of land area, securing 50% of national water supply	Replicable in other regions
Corporate supply chains with agricultural products	Global; International corporations (e.g., Unilever, Coca-cola)	Incorporate ecosystem services into sourcing, product development, or certification strategies by selecting the most sustainable regions/materials or adopting ecosystem service standards for agricultural practices	(i) What are the relative impacts and dependencies for different sourcing locations or material ingredients? (ii) Where should suppliers apply best management practices for optimal ecosystem outcomes at lowest production costs?	Top multinational corporations have larger GDPs than most nations, and demand significant portions of global agricultural product (e.g., Unilever purchases up to 12% of black tea globally)	The standards and approaches adopted by corporate leaders can be scaled throughout other companies in their sectors
Sustainable infrastructure investments	Latin America; Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)	Quantify and value impacts and dependencies of roads on ecosystem services; integrate into cost benefit analysis for road siting and investment and mitigation decisions to ensure compliance with in-country offset regulation and IDB standards	(i) Which projects should be prioritized across the portfolio (based on dependence and impacts)? (ii) Within a project, how and where should development be designed to minimize impacts, and how does the environment affect infrastructure security?	IDB spending $5B/y on infrastructure lending ($1.67B on transportation, 79% of that on roads)	Scalable across IDB and to other multilaterals. Building capacity within IDB and with consultants
National and international fishery reforms	National governments and international regional fishery management organizations	Reform management to incentivize sustainable fisheries and protection of habitat and biodiversity	(i) Which fisheries are most appropriate for rights-based approaches that can incentivize sustainable fisheries and habitat/biodiversity protection? (ii) How can use of high seas be sustainable?	Food and economic security for the billions of people who depend upon seafood for protein and poverty alleviation without eroding the resilience of ocean ecosystems in the face of continued exploitation, climate change, and ocean acidification	Scalable across nations